Young nearly done before offer in 2001

He was always the underdog, always on the cusp of making a name for himself in gymnastics.

One day in 2001, that wasn't enough for Guard Young.

He walked into the University of Oklahoma gymnastics office of coach Mark Williams and told him, "I think I'm done."

"I'd just hired him to be my assistant coach," said Williams, who had coached Young since he was 12 years old.

Wayne Young, the former Olympian and BYU gymnastics coach, had moved his family to Norman, Okla., so he could go to medical school, and he asked Williams to take over coaching his son. Williams first met Wayne Young as a fan at the 1976 Olympic trials at Penn State. Later, Williams coached at a private gym in Utah before heading to Oklahoma.

"It was getting really hard. I had a very bad shoulder and was having a hard time adapting to the new rules," Guard Young remembers about his wanting to quit the sport after finishing 10th in the 2000 U.S. Olympic trials. Every four years, gymnastics rules and codes change leading up to the next Olympiad.

"I went in and said, 'I don't know if I should keep going,' " Guard says.

"I said, 'No, I'm not going to let you quit,' " says Williams, still Young's coach and boss in the Oklahoma gym. "He goes, 'What?' "

Obviously Williams prevailed as Young is now, at age 27, a member of the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team, just like his father was in 1976. He leaves for training in Athens on Tuesday, and gymnastics competition is Aug. 14-23.

That trying time in 2001 just may be the reason Guard Young became good enough to break through his "overlooked" reputation and seize a spot on the Olympic team, despite a bad Achilles and having to petition his way into the trials and then impress a selection committee enough to choose him.

Williams persuaded Young to keep training through 2001's first re-ranking meet to see if he could cope with the new rules. "I had to keep his spirits up," said Williams. "Four months later, he makes the world championship team."

"His advice was to set a goal and fulfill it," Young says. "After making that first world championship team, I started making a name for myself. I improved a lot."

Williams said he had to get tougher on his own coaching and not treat his assistant coach any different than he would his other trainees, and Guard says his coach pushed him to new heights.